Basketball Practice Drills - Dribbling and Passing Fundamentals

A truly good basketball team has to have every player on the court doing individual things right so that the team can benefit. Of course, players won’t be able to do these things unless they practice them. That’s why it’s so important for players to always be doing basketball practice drills.

Every player should always perform basketball practice drills that work on dribbling and passing. Of course there are many other types of basketball practice drills – defense, shooting, screening, rebounding, etc. – but the most basic building blocks for an offense are dribbling and passing.

Basketball Dribbling Drills

Dribbling is the most basic skill that all players should have. If a player can’t dribble the ball well, then he/she won’t be successful on the court. Of course, some positions (primarily guards) need to dribble the ball more than other positions (especially centers) but every player should still be able to handle the ball. Two great dribbling drills are the Half-Court Dribble Move and Full-Court Dribble Move.

Half-Court Dribble Move

This basketball practice drill involves having two lines at half-court on each sideline. One line should be facing one basket while the other line faces the other basket. A cone or a chair should be set-up on each wing at the three-point line on the same side of the court as each line.

The first player in each line will dribble with their right hand toward the chair or cone. When the player reaches the chair or cone, he/she must make a move (crossover dribble, hesitation, between the legs, etc.) that the coach has told him/her to make. After making the move the player should go the basket and make a lay-up.

Full-Court Dribble Move

This drill is similar to the half-court drill except the entire court is used and six cones or chairs are set-up. These cones or chairs should be spaced out evenly the length of the court. There should be two lines of chairs.

Players need to form two lines – each line should begin on the baseline and be located just outside the lane. The first player will dribble with his/her right hand. When the player reaches the first chair or cone that player needs to make the dribbling move the coach has asked for and then proceed to the next obstacle while dribbling with the left hand.

The same move should be used to go around all six obstacles. Usually players should go through the drill twice before moving on to use another dribbling move.

Basketball Passing Drills

There are many different basketball practice drills that work on passing. Passing is important because there’s no faster way to move the ball up the court or around the court. Two great passing drills are the Star Drill and the No Dribble Scrimmage.

Star Drill

The Star Drill is a great basketball practice drill for before games. It helps the players warm-up by getting their hands ready, their passing skills honed, and their blood pumping.

The drill requires at least 10 players. It begins with each player forming the point of a star. Each person should be facing the inside of the star (toward each other). The passing drill begins with one person (usually the Captain) passing the ball to the player opposite the ball. That passer hen follows the ball and goes to that point of the star.

The player catching the ball will then pass the ball to the player to the right of the player who just passed the ball. Then the next player will follow the ball to the next spot, the ball will be passed to the right, and the drill will keep going.

It should be crisp and force the players to hustle to the next spot in order to be ready to receive the pass.

No Dribble Scrimmage

The No Dribble Scrimmage basketball drill is exactly what it sounds like – a drill where the players play against each other without being able to dribble the ball. This gets the players thinking about where to pass the ball instead of dribbling it. This drill is especially great for players who dribble the ball too much.

The beauty of this drill is the players quickly figure out that they better pass the ball quickly or the pass will be very difficult. This is because the defense can slack off the player with the ball since that player can’t dribble the ball.

The No Dribble Scrimmage will help improve a team’s ball movement and it will also encourage the players to be better, less selfish team players.

Dribbling and Passing: The Basics of Offense

It’s true that a team that can’t score won’t win. So of course shooting is also an important part of any offense. But the most important, the most basic things that a team has to do well are dribbling and passing the ball. That’s why most basketball practice drills should involve dribbling and passing the ball.

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